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Tag Archive: Lee Haeri

Recently I was listening to compilations of Davichi’s songs on Youtube, and I came across “Can You Hear Me” from the original soundtrack for Korean musical Tears of Heaven that premiered in early 2011. I had heard of it then, or maybe a few times in the past – in addition to casting Lee Haeri, the musical featured Kim Junsu of JYJ as its protagonist. For some reason, after having casually heard this track a few times over the years, this time around, the track stuck – just the epic grandeur of the melody and the dramatic effect produced by the instrumental joined with the musical actors’ vocals and dynamics was mesmerizing. As the producers called the musical one of Broadway caliber, I think this track really demonstrates the high quality and grand scale of this production (the musical was composed by Frank Wildhorn). (You can learn more about the musical here.)

I think I like the actual musical version above Lee Haeri’s recorded version, because the addition of the male voice (turning the track into a duet) really makes the track more lovely, especially as the female and male seemingly exchange dialogue through their interjections, and the harmonies reinforce the unity and shared mindset expressed in the lyrics. Also, the choir heightens the drama of it. But nonetheless, Lee Haeri makes her studio version an enjoyable, albeit different, listen in its own right.

The above video is from a mini-concert for the musical, featuring Jung Sangyoon and Lee Haeri as the leads. Below is an English version performance by Brad Little and Lee Haeri, and below that is the audio of Lee Haeri’s solo studio version.

I don’t quite know how it feels to be ‘around thirty,’ but strangely(?) enough, this song resonates with me. Even if I don’t completely feel like I’m aging into my middle years yet, the feeling of transitioning from childhood and youth to adulthood is personally more bitter than sweet. Growing older, transitioning into newer ‘bigger and better’ things, I…don’t know. I’m unsure and I feel like in becoming more aware of my ignorance, I feel as if I am leaving something behind. Am I really? I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just more self-aware and awakened to deadlines and desires and new waves and waves of regret.

또 하루 멀어져 간다 / [And yet] another day is fading
매일 이별하며 살고 있구나 / It seems I am living each day while parting
매일 이별하며 살고 있구나 / It seems I am living each day while parting

Predictably, I came upon this song through an Lee Haeri performance. Translation is under the cut.

For the ‘Autumn Men’ special of Immortal Song 2 last year, mixed martial artist Kim Donghyun paired with Lee Haeri to cover Kim Sungho‘s Reminiscence (1989). While it evidently is originally meant for one male singer, referring to ‘그녀,’ or ‘her’ in various parts of the song, Kim Donghyun and Lee Haeri adapted it so that it would fit a broken couple. The second verse of the song was moved from after the first chorus to before the first chorus to immediately follow the first verse. Kim Donghyun sang the first verse from the male’s perspective and Lee Haeri sang the second verse from the female’s perspective (the second verse didn’t need much alteration – the one mention of ‘her’ in it was changed to ‘he’). Not much else was changed, except for the addition of the line ‘그때 우리가 어렸었기에,’ or ‘We were so young at the time‘ after ‘그때는 너무나 어렸었기에,’ or ‘I was so young at the time’ and the repetition of the line ‘때로는 눈물도 흘렀지,’ or ‘At times, I cried,‘ both for emphasis. (Also, Lee Haeri had some ad-libs.)

I hadn’t heard of Kim Donghyun before, so I couldn’t tell that he wasn’t a singer until I realized that Lee Haeri was given all the ad-lib parts and during the chorus the two both sang, he actually accidentally sang the harmony with Lee Haeri while he was supposed to sing the melody. Nonetheless, the performance was enjoyable and Lee Haeri’s vocals were breathtaking as usual.

[Unfortunately, the video cannot be embedded, but the performance starts at about 46:40.]

I’m not quite sure why but listening to the line ‘그때는 너무나 어렸었기에 서로의 소중함을 알지 못했네/ [We] were so young at the time, we didn’t know each other’s value,’ especially sung with the harmony, makes my heart ache. The full translation is below: Continue reading →

About a month ago, Lee Haeri won the Park Sangmin episode of Immortal Song 2 with the highest number of votes ever obtained by a female on the show (435/500) through her cover of his song, “Sunflower.” Above is the performance (unfortunately of lower video quality) and below is my translation of the lyrics into English. Continue reading →

I respect Kim Gunmo as a legend and pioneer in the history of Korean music, but I prefer Kang Minkyung’s rich, warm voice to Kim Gunmo’s unique, nasally voice. If only there was a full version of Kang Minkyung’s version of this song..

As a big fan of Davichi, I try to watch most Davichi performances as they come out. [Subscribe to sinyanmei92 for Davichi videos!] That means that I started watching Immortal Song 2 for Lee Haeri and Kang Minkyung’s performances and random cuts…which led to this. The main highlight of this episode (of what I saw) was the formation of a Lee Haeri–Brian Joo couple line (scandalous news for Korean reporters!!). Continue reading →